New Wegmans store on East Avenue set to open

The new Wegmans Food Markets Inc. store on East Avenue slated to open at 7 a.m. Sunday will dwarf its predecessor.

The new store is 86,900 square feet, up from 43,000 square feet in the store it replaces. It will have 625 employees, 150 more than before.

The East Avenue location will include a Market Cafe with seating for more than 100 people, a vegetable market, a larger bakery and prepared foods section, an expanded pharmacy and six more checkout lanes. The store’s Italian restaurant, Amore Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar, is slated to open this summer.

The new East Avenue store has been in the making since 1996, when Wegmans purchased a single property behind the original store. Over the years it accumulated nearby properties.

In June 2011, after an extensive planning process and meetings, the new East Avenue store received final approval from the city zoning board.

For more details on the new Wegmans store, see Friday’s print edition of the Rochester Business Journal.

A timeline for Wegmans' East Avenue store

1962 A 23,000-square-foot East Avenue store opens.

1979 The East Avenue store converts to scanning checkouts.

1980 A fire on Aug. 24 destroys two aisles and the ceiling of the store. It reopens Sept. 7. The same year, the store grows to 41,321 square feet by expanding into the drug store, dry cleaners and parking lot that formerly separated it from East Avenue. The new space houses a specialty cheese shop, pharmacy, deli, and seafood and produce departments. The original store space is completely renovated by the following spring.

1981 Dairy, meat, and grocery departments are renovated and floral is added. A mezzanine area in the back of the store houses new restrooms, an employee break room and the store manager's office.

1996 Wegmans purchases the first of several properties behind the East Avenue store. Other properties were purchased in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

1998 On-Bank, which was located in front of the store, is demolished, adding 27 new parking spaces. A modest expansion in the front of the store brings the size to 43,000 square feet.

2010 Last of the properties behind the East Avenue store is purchased by Wegmans.

2011 Final design is approved by city of Rochester. Demolition of buildings begins.

2013 The former East Avenue store closes Feb. 23, making way for the new store to open May 19.